FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT XANADU - PAGE 4

By the end of 1995, after more than 100 years in operation, Chicago law firm Keck Mahin & Cate was in big trouble. The burden of paying down onerous debt from an ill-fated expansion was pushing partners toward the exits as their income came under pressure. But even as labor-law experts Bruce Stickler and Mark D. Nelson were packing their desks to form their own firm, they believed Keck still could be saved. It retained a solid core of strong attorneys and lucrative clients.

Friday "Blagojevich, Blagojevich!": The ex-governor inspires another theatrical satire. Through Sept. 22 at Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave.; $29 at 773-935-6860 and athenaeumtheatre.org Sunday "The Iron Stag King": A new trilogy, set in a fantastical world. Friday through Oct. 21 by House Theatre of Chicago at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St.; $25 at 773-769-3832 and thehousetheatre.com Monday "The Woman in White": A new stage adaptation of the classic Wilkie Collins mystery novel.

Elizabeth Stanley, who just completed a run as the female lead of John Waters' "Cry-Baby" on Broadway, will star as Kira in the Chicago production of the Broadway musical "Xanadu." The Chicago sit-down is to begin in January and is expected to run for about six months at the Drury Lane Water Tower. The show, an affectionate spoof of the infamous disco-era movie that starred Olivia Newton-John, is here under the auspices of Broadway in Chicago. Other principals in the show include Max von Essen (Sonny)

As expected, Levi Kreis, Rob Lyons, Eddie Clendening and Lance Guest are headed to Broadway with the Chicago hit "Million Dollar Quartet." The official announcement came Thursday. And when they arrive at the Nederlander Theatre in March (opening night is April 11), they'll find some new co-stars: Elizabeth Stanley and Hunter Foster. Stanley (recently seen in Chicago atop "Xanadu") will play the role of Dyanne, aka Elvis' girlfriend. Foster, known especially for "Urinetown," plays Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records.

The tuner version of "Sleepless in Seattle" is undergoing its latest round of creative retooling, with helmer Lonny Price now signed on to a show that also is imminently due to set a new team of songwriters. Price ("110 in the Shade") replaces the previously attached Joel Zwick ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") in the director's chair. Leslie Bricusse, originally onboard as the show's songsmith, departed in 2009 after penning 18 songs for the tuner. Now the trio that had been announced to fill Bricusse's shoes -- Michelle Citrin, Michael Garin and Josh Nelson -- also have exited the project, with a new team set to be named.

Have your heart set on a muraya paniculata, the orange jasmine plant that flowers with very little light, or the xanadu philodendron, whose deep green leaves have a mirror shine? Wander through the small, maze-like rooms at Emerson's Garden in Evanston where you'll find these exotlc plants as well as dozens of other familiar and not-so familiar ones for indoor and outdoor gardens. "We loved the concept of an English garden-very natural, welcoming and not stylized, and tried to recreate that feeling in the shop," says Emerson Nagel, who recently opened the shop with her husband, Bob. Emerson's Garden is a series of mini-room settings where visitors can sit and enjoy the smell of orange jasmine or research gardening questions in reference books while sitting next to the soothing trickling of a fountain.

The Chicago Theatre has booked its second Broadway tour of 2009: The iconic venue will present a weekend of the touring production of "The Wizard of Oz" April 30 to May 3. This show, which plays mostly smaller cities, is based on a long-ago Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of the beloved movie. The show was last seen in this area in 1999, when it played the Rosemont Theatre with Mickey Rooney as the Wizard. Weirdly -- given the economic climate -- the first part of 2009 is shaping into a very busy period for touring shows in Chicago.

The man whom many movie critics regard as one of the greatest film directors of all time was once a working critic himself in Lake County--at the age of 13! Orson Welles, renowned actor and director of "Citizen Kane," became a drama critic for the Highland Park News in July 1928. For that summer, Welles was living in Highland Park with a family friend, physician Maurice A. Bernstein, who later became Welles' legal guardian. Bernstein reportedly had connections and landed the job for the precocious adolescent.

Like the Old South, Mel Markon's Dixie Que, the restaurateur's tribute to Southern barbecue, is gone with the wind. The stylized rib shack on Fullerton Avenue stands forlornly, its windows boarded, its only occupant Elvis, whose posters adorn the walls. Keeping a low profile worthy of Elvis is Markon, whose whereabouts the past year have stumped some former pals. The creator of such past hot spots as Mel Markon's and Xanadu was rumored to be living in Memphis or Curacao. But he's been in Chicago all along, confining travels to visiting son Jerry, an editor with the Associated Press in New York.

First impressions: What does one expect if one has no expectations? That's my mindset walking through the doors of Xanadu Day Spa, located above a Wolf Camera store in downtown Barrington. Like many guys, I've never had a facial or spa treatment. But there I was, with an appointment for a dark chocolate facial, no less. So as I walked past the pink couches and into a dimly lit salmon-color private room, the ethereal wind chimes of New Age music floating, I still had no reasonable expectations.